Alto Mare: Fated Sequel
by Guardian Samuel
Summary: Ash and Latias have finally settled down in Pallet town, but fate would have it otherwise. Roped in by his old rival, Ash adventures to a region he is unfamiliar with to perform research on a phenomenon known as Mega Evolution. However, Mega Evolution is not all that awaits him in Kalos.
1. Chapter 1

**WOW! It's, uh, it's been awhile. So, to start off, this story does not have a name yet. For now, there will be a placeholder name. This is a direct sequel to Alto Mare: Fated Reunion. If everything goes according to plan, you should expect two more stories within a couple years. (No promises!) Now, onto business. I DO NOT OWN POKEMON! It would be really cool if I did. (I would give Flygon a Mega!) You should also note that this series combines the Game world with the Anime world. This means events from games and the anime will coincide. Guardian Samuel, signing off! (Enjoy!)**

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><p>The sun slowly crawled over the horizon as if protesting the start of a new day. Ash might have agreed had that been the case. Rays of sunlight shone through the window and assaulted his eyes. Grunting in protest, Ash turned over on his other side to escape the sun's wrath. He felt a soft sensation as he turned over and knew Latias was sleeping beside him. Listening to her rhythmic breathing was one of the most calming sounds Ash had ever heard. Just as the young trainer was about to fall asleep, a sound began resounding throughout the house. Ash made a deep guttural noise in protest and sat up despite his grogginess. Shifting his legs over the side of the bed, he took a few seconds to take everything in. It had only been a week since Ash and Latias had moved into their new house. Ash chose to build the house in a fashion strikingly similar to his mother's house. The phone rang once again, eliciting a sigh from the young man.<p>

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." He mumbled.

Grabbing a plain white t-shirt, he headed downstairs and sat down in front of the phone. He jabbed at the video icon bringing up a familiar face.

"Gary? It's barely 7 in the morning. What are you calling for so early in the morning?" Ash asked rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry, but I needed to speak with you as soon as I could. Would it be too much to ask you to drop by the lab sometime today? Sooner, rather than later would be nice." the young scientist replied.

Ash focused his eyes a little and frowned.

"Were you up all night again? Whatever you're researching, it's going to end up killing you before you can find anything."

Gary chuckled weakly. "Uh, yeah, you may be right, but this time was worth it. I'll tell you more when you come by."

Ash started to protest that he never agreed to drop by, but the call had been dropped. He pondered recalling, but came to the conclusion that Gary would most likely ignore the call. With a grumbling stomach, Ash made his way into the kitchen. Having worked in his mother's diner for the past few months, he had picked up a few new culinary skills. While nowhere near the level of Brock's, it was still edible. He threw together a simple breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs for Latias and himself. Setting her plate on the kitchen table, he brought his own with him into the family room where he turned on the TV. He began flipping through the channels out of boredom. After a few minutes, Ash heard a soft coo from upstairs. He looked over at a sleepy Latias, slowly drifting down the stairs. The Eon Pokémon chirped happily, noticing the food on the table.

**"_-ank you"_** she said, struggling to successfully bridge their minds.

Ash smiled at her. "Don't push yourself. We both know it's hard for you to concentrate in the morning."

Latias cooed and nuzzled the young trainer. For a while, the only noises heard was the clinking of silverware and the disgruntled voice of the morning newscaster. Ash took a slight interest in the current story of a recent ferry accident.

**"_Something wrong?" _**Latias asked staring at the television from above him.

"Not really, just some old memories. Did you ever hear about the St. Anne incident?"

Latias shook her head.

"It was a ship that got caught in a nasty storm. The captain decided the best course of action was to abandon ship. So, all the passengers safely made it off, except for a few. Brock, Misty, and I were knocked unconscious by the violent shaking. The ship had flipped while we were out and we barely made it with our lives. It was an eventful experience to say the least."

**"_That sounds horrifying…"_**

Ash jabbed the "Off" button on the remote and stood up.

"It was. Putting aside bad memories, I'm going to go visit Gary. He has something to show me. What about you?"

Latias frowned. **_"I don't know. I was going to see if Delia needed any help in the diner."_**

"Today's Friday right? The part-timers will be there for the busy hours." Ash replied making his way upstairs. Latias followed him up to their room where Ash began rifling through drawers. He donned a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans along with his signature black and white shoes.

"Something feels off… Oh, right! My vest!" he exclaimed pulling a blue vest from the closet.

Latias smiled at the familiar outfit. **_"You look just as you did when I first found you in the Tour de Altomare."_**

"And you're just as beautiful as you were when I first saw you in the Garden." He replied leaning in and stealing a kiss from her. Latias blushed and took his hand in her claw.

**"_Gary's waiting, right?"_**

Ash smiled warmly and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Ash and Latias sat quietly on a paper strewn couch as Gary fumbled around the lab trying to find his research notes. A victorious yell came from him as he tossed a small folder on the table. Ash picked it up and found it surprisingly light. He looked at it curiously as he read the title of the research.

"Mega Evolution? Is this what you've been studying for the past few months?"

Gary motioned for him to open it.

Ash set it down on the table and flipped it open. Inside were a few papers along with a couple of pictures fastened in place by a paperclip. Ash began reading one of the papers and then picked up one of the pictures. Latias seemed curious so he handed the other picture to her to look at. His picture showed a blurry image of a Pokémon he thought he recognized.

"Isn't this an Absol?" Ash asked curiously. "I've never seen one like this."

"Mega Absol, to be precise." Gary replied.

"Mega Absol? I thought Absol couldn't evolve?"

Gary nodded. "You're absolutely correct. Absol can't evolve, but this isn't evolution. It's more like a-"

"temporary transformation." Latias finished.

Gary nodded and continued his explanation. "Mega Evolution is something unheard of here in the Kanto region. In fact, as far as I know, the only region with any kind of knowledge on the matter is the Kalos region. Do you know of it?"

"The Kalos region? I've never even heard of it." Ash replied.

"That's probably because it's its own independent region. From what I've read, they broke off from the United Regions nearly 8 decades ago. The region is entirely self-sustaining. Actually, there is one company that deals with them."

"Which company is that?" Ash asked curiously.

"Silph Co. The leading company in Pokeball technology. In exchange for the rights to use their Pokeballs, Kalos has to donate a certain percentage of their revenue every year to Silph. Silph even went as far as establishing PokeMarts with inventory you normally wouldn't see in Kalos."

"Wait, so there's a chance that one of my Pokeballs were made in Kalos?" Ash asked confused plucking one off of his belt. Latias glared at the ball with contempt.

"No, don't get the wrong idea. The Pokeball factory in Kalos ships exclusively to businesses in Kalos. Silph still has their own factories here. All of your Pokeballs were made at Silph." Gary replied.

The young scientist faltered and sighed. "We've gotten off-topic here. Ash, there's a, uh, favor I want to ask of you."

Ash sat up and crossed his arms. "Depends on the favor."

Gary took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I want you to travel to Kalos and research Mega Evolution for me!"

A deafening silence followed Gary's statement. Ash stared at the apprehensive scientist with no expression. Ash slowly stood up.

"We're heading home, Latias." He said quietly.

"Ash! Come on! You're the only one I can trust with this!" Gary pleaded.

Ash frowned. "You're asking me to leave Pallet Town, right after we finished moving in to our new house. Gary, I haven't even been home for a full year yet and you're asking me to leave?"

"I know! It's selfish of me, but you know gramps is in a bad state! I'm the only one who can take over the lab if something were to happen!"

Ash hesitated. On one hand, he wanted to take Latias and head back home, but on the other hand, his friend needed his help. He looked over to Latias for help.

"I think we should help him." She said.

Ash chuckled. "I knew you were going to say that."

The young trainer, who had retired from training looked down at Gary who was on the floor begging.

"You're asking me to give up on my retirement from being a Trainer. You're asking me to leave behind a peaceful life I've only just started to build. My mother started up the diner again because I was here to help out. I expect you to make sure that diner keeps running."

Gary looked up with wide eyes. "You mean?!"

Ash nodded. "I'll do it."


	2. Chapter 2

Ash waved to Latias as she ran down the dirt path. He had tasked her with informing his mother and Pikachu of their trip.

"You aren't going to be bringing Pikachu with you?" Gary asked surprised at the news.

"No, this journey has been harder on him than it has been for me. He's gone through a lot of pain and suffering because of my naïvety back then. I figure it's about time he got some rest from this hectic lifestyle." Ash replied as he sat down on the couch.

"Interesting. Who will you take with you then?"

"Charizard."

"That was fast." Gary mused.

Ash shrugged and craned his neck to look outside the window on the far side of the room.

"Him and I go some ways back. Picked him up after he was abandoned by a trainer, defeated the trainer, got his license revoked and he went on to become, arguably, my strongest partner."

Gary nodded his head in understanding.

"Putting aside my party arrangement, let's get down to business." Ash said picking up the Absol folder once more. "What do you need me to do for you over there?"

"Right!" Gary stated. "Come over here for a bit."

Ash followed Gary over to a computer. The young scientist tapped away at the PC and pulled up numerous files.

"I've already told you that Kalos isn't a part of the United Regions, so transportation is kind of iffy. We'll need to find someone to take you there."

"No need to worry about that. I'll call in a favor with Skyla. She'll probably jump at the chance to fly to a new region." Ash replied reading the small words on the screen.

"Alright, if you have travel figured out, I suppose I should give this back to you now." Gary said handing him a small, rectangular device.

Ash gasped and snatched the device from his hands.

"No way! Dexter?! Are you for real?"

Gary nodded with a big smile.

"I thought you might like that. It's been refurbished and updated with all the information from your previous entries along with personal information. The only thing you'll need to do with it is get it upgraded in Kalos."

Ash's smile faltered.

"How can I do that? Will they really trust me enough to give me access to their software?"

Gary tapped his nose and then proceeded to pull something out of his coat pocket. He held the item out towards Ash.

"When you arrive in Lumiose city, show this to a Professor Sycamore. Alongside being the leading researcher on Mega Evolution, he's also the regions designated Professor for the distribution of Pokedexes to trainers he thinks are capable."

Ash took the item he now recognized as a letter. There was a wax seal that kept it closed. He didn't spend long examining it before tucking it in a pocket.

"Anything else?" Ash asked.

"Two things, actually. I want you to take this."

Ash opened his palm and stared at the item Gary dropped into it.

"Wow. I've always wanted a marble." Ash said apathetically staring at the fluid design inside of it.

Gary chuckled. "This is worth a lot more than a marble Ashy boy. This thing cost a lot of time and effort to get my hands on."

"So, what is it?"

"A mega stone."

Ash scrunched his face up as he cleaned out his ears.

"I'm sorry, come again?"

Gary looked at him with an annoyed expression. "It's a mega stone. It's something that's required for Mega Evolution. I'm not sure why, but it is. This particular stone, oddly enough, is supposed to be for a Charizard."

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Supposed to be?"

Gary looked to the side.

"The information may not be all that solid." He mumbled.

Ash sighed and stood up.

"Just when I thought I could lead a quiet life.

Gary smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for springing this on you on such short notice. I would have loved to go myself, but…"

Ash laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. My anger got the better of me back there. You were right before. You're needed here. I'll be back with your data before you know it."

"Oh right! I almost forgot!" Gary exclaimed making Ash jump in surprise. He pulled an odd looking device out of a box. It was a little larger than Ash's Pokedex with a small antennae attached to it.

"This is an energy reader. Use it to measure a Pokemon's power level when it mega evolves! Other than that, just figure out what makes Mega Evolution work."

For the third time in hardly an hour, Ash took the item from Gary. Before leaving, Ash went out to the labs backyard and picked up Charizard who gave him a very, very warm welcome. Him and Gary exchanged farewells before Ash left. The young trainer made his way to his mother's house under the watchful eye of the sun. The warmth radiating from the giant ball of gas relaxed his nerves. Once he reached his destination, he was greeted by Mr. Mime who had seen him from the living room while sweeping. Ash thanked the Pokemon and stepped inside the familiar house. He stopped underneath the doorframe separating the kitchen and living room and leaned against it. Latias and Pikachu were having an intense game of Go Fish that he didn't want to interrupt. After a while, Latias let her head slide down to the table and sighed in defeat. Ash took this as his cue and rapped his knuckles on the door frame. The red dragon's head immediately shot back up.

**"_That didn't take very long." _**She said floating out of her chair.

"There wasn't much to do. We're flying into this as blind as a Zubat to be honest." Ash said before looking over to his old friend. "Did Latias tell you yet?"

Pikachu nodded and gave him a thumbs up. Ash raised his brow in slight surprise.

"I'm surprised you're this accepting of this. Normally, you'd Thunderbolt me and leave it at that."

"Pika Pikachu Pi Pika Pikachu!"

Ash nodded.

"I appreciate it old pal. I'll be trusting you to keep her safe while we're gone." He replied.

**"_What do we do now? Do we have any way to get there?"_**

"That, my dear, is exactly what we're going to arrange. I know someone who can help us. I might have to call in a couple of other favors, but we should be able to leave in no less than a week." Ash replied.

He walked over to his mother's telephone and punched in a number.

"Let's get started!"


	3. Chapter 3

The next couple of weeks flew by in an instance for Latias. She spent most of this time with Ash and standing idly by as he made preparations for their trip. The first favor he called in was to a Gym Leader by the name of Skyla. Latias had heard the name before, but only from stories told by Ash. The young trainer made arrangements to have her fly them into Kalos after meeting up in Unova. The trip to Unova was nothing special. They left on a cruise ship from Kanto to Hoenn where they caught another ship making its way to the Unova region. After traveling on foot for a week, they finally reached Skyla's gym. Upon arrival they were almost immediately shoved into a small, luxury plane and took off.

Latias looked over at Ash with a surprised expression. The young trainer laughed and straightened her hair out.

"Skyla loves to fly. That's why I called her first. I knew she would jump at the chance to fly to a new region, but man, this is a really nice plane." Ash said rubbing the leather seats.

"You like that?!" Skyla called from the cockpit. "I got this beautiful piece of work not that long ago! Been looking for a chance to really test her, so everything works out. I'll leave you two to admire the view!"

"Wait! We haven't even talked about pay-"

The door to the cockpit slammed shut, cutting him off. The young trainer sighed and sat back into the leather seat. He looked up over his shoulder and watched the clouds roll by. The gentle hum of the engines combined with the fatigue from his week-long journey began to take its effect on him. The young trainer's eyes began to droop. He felt Latias lay her head on his shoulder. He smiled as he entered his own deep sleep.

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><p>It seemed like no time had passed before Ash opened his eyes. However, he was caught off-guard by his surroundings. He quickly took in his surroundings.<p>

"The secret garden? Then that means…" he trailed off looking around a little more carefully. He spotted a pale man dressed in a tuxedo near the fountain. Ash hesitated before stepping forward. The man was a stranger to him, but the aura he emanated was familiar. Ash stopped a few feet behind the man.

"Long time no see, Latios. I see you're trying out something new."

The pale man turned to him and nodded. "I was never comfortable in my human form, but it isn't half-bad here."

Latios turned back to the fountain and motioned for him to step forward.

"Look." He said, referring to the fountain.

Ash peered into it and saw Latias and himself asleep on the plane. Latios disrupted the water with a wave of his hand and the scene changed. This time, it showed Bianca standing by the water's edge, painting a picture of old friends. It slowly changed and showed Mewtwo, sitting on a rock, meditating. Latios sighed and waved his hand once more causing the images to disappear. He turned around and leaned against the side of the fountain.

"I honestly never expected you could succeed back then. Taking Latias for yourself and finding a new guardian to protect Alto Mare. I suppose I underestimated your resolve." He said apathetically.

"No need to hold back." Ash muttered.

"Ash, in this realm I can see everything and anything. I have watched both you and Latias since my death. You spent years, disregarding your emotions, adventuring and training. While this time spent training was not in vain, you knew deep down that your goals shifted. This is why you retired from training after becoming a master. You had been chasing the wrong dream. For Latias, my sister, it was different. Every day was spent mourning my death and waiting for you. She had fallen in love with you the moment she saw you. Now, years after your promise was made, you finally returned and set everything straight. Bianca and Latias now accept I am physically gone from this world and Lorenzo's mind is at ease, knowing Alto Mare is in good hands. Thank you."

Ash scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No need to thank me. I was just being selfish really. I wanted to be with Latias and went out of my way to make it happen."

Latios chuckled. "You are a humble one. I give you that."

Ash felt a surge ripple through the atmosphere.

"What in the world?"

"Your connection to this realm is destabilizing." Latios explained. "It's nothing serious, it just means your body is starting to wake up. Ash, there are a couple of things I must tell you before you go."

"What is it?"

"Kalos is in danger. Seek out a man named Lysandre and put a stop to his plan, but be wary, this man is considered dead. He was stopped two years ago and was thought to be killed in an explosion, but he survived and is attempting to recreate what he failed to do."

Ash hesitated. "T-That's a lot to put on me, Latios. Suddenly telling me to protect a region I've never even been to is…"

"Selfish, I know, but nobody else knows he survived. By the time somebody realized what was going on, it would be too late."

Ash tightened his hands and nodded.

"I understand. I'll do what I can."

Latios smiled. "I knew we could count on you."

Suddenly, another surge disrupted the atmosphere. This time however, it was followed up with another, more powerful surge. Ash could sense the link he had with the world begin to disappear.

"Is there anything else you can tell me before I go?" Ash asked quickly.

Latios shook his and smiled at the young trainer.

"There was one thing though."

After a short burst of blue light, temporarily blinding Ash. Latios appeared in his true form. He put a claw on Ash's shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

**"_Thank you for taking care of Latias. You have my eternal thanks."_**

The world rapidly went dark and soon, Ash found himself in an empty abyss. It felt like an eternity before his eyes opened. The only sound Ash could hear was the soft hum of the plane engines. He groggily looked around and noticed night-time had fallen. Latios' warning flashed in his mind. He knew it hadn't been a dream. The threat he described was real and it was only a matter of time before Ash encountered it. The young trainer heard a soft coo, snapping him out of his small trance. He looked down and found Latias sleeping with her head on his lap. Ash smiled at her and sighed. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I'll protect you no matter what." He whispered before leaning back and closing his eyes once more.

**A/N - Eh, sub-par. I've been feeling kind of lethargic lately. I kid you not, slept for _at least_ 15 hours Sunday. I've also been re-watching a ton of Bleach. (I'm on episode 56.) So, if uploads are slow, it's because I'm either watching Bleach or being really, really lazy... Or both. One thing I've noticed is I use repetition a lot. I use the same term when referring to something. I really need to read some more and work on my writing skills. Oh well, see you all in Chapter 4!**

**P.S. - Deeper Into the Darkness is currently on hold. Destiny didn't give me a lot to work with in-game, so I'll have to take some time and go Ghost hunting some time in the future to get any details for the story. I apologize to anyone who has enjoyed it thus far.**


	4. Chapter 4

Ash's eyes slowly opened. The young trainer slowly moved as not to wake Latias and stretched his arms. He heard indistinct muttering from the front of the plane and moved up to investigate. He lightly knocked on the door to the cockpit. Ash heard a bit of static from the speaker next to him.

"Sorry, can't let you in right now. Take a look out from the left side of the plane and you'll see why." Skyla stated.

Ash did as he was told and noticed an airport with a large amount of traffic on it.

"We're circling for now, but traffic control says we can land in a few minutes. I recommend you strap in for your safety." The young pilot said.

Ash looked out the window for a few more seconds before moving back to his seat. He lightly shook Latias who seemed cramped in the seat designed for humans.

"Latias. Wake up, we're about to land." He whispered.

The dragon's eyes fluttered open revealing her bright, amber eyes. She stretched her body with a high-pitched yawn and splayed herself across Ash's own seat.

"**_5 more minutes…"_**

"I'll give you 5 seconds." Ash replied.

A small whine escaped Latias as she righted herself. Ash took his seat and buckled himself in. A small radiance of light flashed beside him replacing Latias with Ruby. Ash smiled as he admired her beauty. Latias looked out of the window beside her with thoughtful eyes.

"Something wrong?" Ash asked. "You're normally more talkative."

Latias shook her head.

"Just thinking about a dream I had. It was nice. Me, you, Bianca, Lorenzo, and Brother all living happily in Alto Mare. We went on walks, we had picnics, we would play in the Garden, and nothing bad ever happened." She stated.

Ash thought about his encounter with Latios. It wasn't rare meeting Latios like that, but this time was different. This time he had come as a messenger. He got lost in thought, but snapped out of it when he felt Latias grasp his hand.

"What are we going to do after we're done here?" she asked still peering out the window as if searching for an answer to a long forgotten question.

Ash blinked as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, we'll return to Pallet town and…" Ash's voice trailed off.

He felt a little more pressure on his hand.

"Have you ever thought of having a family?" she asked finally taking her eyes away from the window and staring him in the eyes.

Ash's mind did a back flip. Of course he had thought about having a family, but at the moment it wasn't something he had yet considered seriously. He shifted uncomfortably under Latias' gaze. He could see it in her eyes. She was serious.

"It's, come across my mind a couple of times." He admitted. "I haven't really thought about it too much though."

Latias smiled ever so slightly.

"It's alright if you haven't. For the longest time all you were ever interested in was becoming a Pokémon master. It isn't much of a surprise that you're only now having thoughts about our future. After all, you came back to Alto Mare on a whim."

Ash hung his head in shame as he recalled his naïve childhood. Latias giggled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"It feels like we're starting to land." She stated fumbling with the belt strapes.

Ash leaned over and buckled her in.

"I would love to have a family." He whispered before leaning back into his chair.

Latias stared at him in surprise. The young trainer frowned and looked away with a blush as if denying he had said anything. Latias smiled and put her head on his shoulder without saying a word.

Ash had steeled himself for hours of paperwork that he thought they would have to deal with when they arrived. It was a big surprise that he was given a passport immediately upon arrival with a special waive on any airport services. When he inquired to the woman at the desk he received quite the surprising response.

"It's an honor having the Champion of Kanto visit Kalos. Please, if you require any help regarding airport policy, don't hesitate to call the front desk. Would you like me to call a taxi for you?" she continued fluidly asking several questions without stopping for breath.

Ash waved his hands in front of him.

"All I really need is a map and some information." He replied.

"Oh! Of course!" she exclaimed plucking a pamphlet of sorts from the rack beside Ash and handing it over to him.

"What would you like to know?" she asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me where Professor Sycamore lives and a good hotel to stay in." Ash replied opening the pamphlet and laying it on the desk.

"The Hotel Richissime on North Boulevard is a great place to stay, though a bit expensive." She stated circling a spot on the map. "And the professor's lab is right here by the entrance to Route 4 on the South Boulevard."

Ash looked at the map for a few minutes before looking up at the woman.

"I think I'll take you up on that cab offer."

It wasn't long before Ash and Latias were standing in front of the Pokémon Lab. As soon as Ash and Latias had stepped out of the cap, it sped off in search of new customers.

"Guess we'll have to walk to the hotel." Latias stated watching the cab driver take a sharp turn and disappear from sight.

"Yeah, the prices are ridiculous. I feel kind of bad letting that lady pay for that ride." Ash replied shrugging his pack to a more comfortable position.

The two of them walked up to the front door. Ash went to knock, but the door suddenly flung open and was immediately crushed in some sort of bear hug.

"Ash!" Latias cried preparing to unleash a barrage of psychic energy, but stopped at the appearance of someone new.

"Garchomp! Come now, don't crush our visitors! Come on, let go of the young man."

Latias watched as the large dragon released Ash from its tight hug. Latias helped Ash up from the ground.

"That was quite the experience." He stated as he knocked off some dirt from his pants.

"Ah, sorry about that!" The man exclaimed with a chuckle. "Garchomp here is very familiar with people she's never even met and it causes trouble sometimes."

Ash shook his head.

"It's alright, I was just surprised is all." Ash said lightly scratching the dragon's neck.

Garchomp let out a small sound of pleasure. The man beside it laughed.

"You seem to know how to handle Pokémon rather well." He said extending his hand out. "I'm Professor Sycamore, I'm the head professor of this fine laboratory."

Ash took his hand and shook it.

"Ash Ketchum, Champion of Kanto, it's nice to meet you."

"Hmm, yes, I know exactly who you are. The reputation here in Kalos is quite incredible. You are the youngest Champion the League has seen after all."

Ash chuckled, slightly embarrassed by the amount of attention he had received thus far.

"It would seem so." He replied.

"In any case, please step inside. It's rude to keep you out here and I doubt the Young Champion has come by just to say hello." The professor stated with a smile.

**A/N - I can't really bring out the full potential of this story until I've played Alpha Sapphire. I intend to use concepts from those games in the story and I'm not about to start writing about that stuff until I have a concrete understanding of it. This shouldn't affect the story for awhile though and by then I'll have finished the game. Until next time readers, Guardian Samuel, out!**


	5. Chapter 5

The professor led them into what seemed to be a lounge. The walls were white and in the middle of the room were a couple of burgundy sofas placed around a glass coffee table. Off to the side was a bar with items such as a toaster and a coffee pot. Professor Sycamore had Ash and Latias sit down before bringing them each a cup of coffee.

"I'm kind of surprised though." Ash stated after taking a sip.

"Hmm?"

"Garchomp, they're incredibly strong Pokémon, so they must be hard to train. Yours, well, it has a very calm aura to it." Ash explained forgetting the professor was not capable of sensing aura.

"Yes, they are hard to train. Garchomp here was a pain in the rear end, but after a while she came to terms with us and it's been smooth sailing since." He replied.

"Why do you have one though?" Latias asked. "In your line of research, wouldn't it be more beneficial to keep Pokémon that can Mega Evolve?"

The professor simply smiled and Ash snapped his fingers.

"Garchomp can Mega Evolve!" Ash exclaimed.

"Precisely. Garchomp has been a major help to us. By studying her, we've been able to understand more about the process and effects of Mega Evolution, even if it is only a little bit. We have more aides conducting independent research, but Mega Evolution is no easy task and only a couple of them can actually pull it off. One notable aide is Allen, but I haven't heard from him in quite some time." Professor Sycamore explained with a small sigh.

"Amazing, I can hardly imagine how much more powerful Cynthia would be if she could Mega Evolve her Garchomp." Ash said as he got lost in space.

Latias snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him back to reality.

"Anyways, I came here on behalf of Gary Oak to find out what I could on Mega Evolution. He told me you would be the best place to start." Ash said pulling out the letter.

Professor Sycamore took the envelope and examined the wax seal that kept the contents of the letter shut.

"This most certainly is the seal of the Oak family." He stated before opening the envelope.

He took a few minutes to examine the letter. After he was done he set the letter down and asked Ash for the stone that was mentioned as well as his Pokedex. Ash handed both items over. The professor stood up and walked over to a phone on the wall. He picked it up and had a short conversation on it before returning to his seat.

"Sorry about that. I'm having my personal secretary come down to take care of these. She'll take your Pokedex up to get it updated and the stone will be scanned at the same time." He explained as he stared at the stone in wonder.

"Wait, scan it? I thought it was a stone for Charizard?"

The professor shook his head.

"No, this is vastly different. I'm not sure what kind of stone it is, but it most certainly isn't just a chunk of rock. Mr. Oak may have stumbled upon something great."

As he said that, a woman entered the room. She wore a white lab coat over her normal clothing. Her hair was blonde and reached down to the middle of her back. Pushing up her square spectacles, she walked up to the professor, took the items and left without even saying a word.

"She's a friendly one." Latias stated as the door closed.

Professor Sycamore chuckled.

"Excuse Elizabeth, she's much more social than you imagine. She just has trouble around new people." He explained.

Ash nodded in understanding. The professor clapped his hand together and stood up.

"In fact, speaking of socializing, why don't we get to know each other a little better? It will take at least an hour for the scan to come up with any results."

Ash and Latias looked at each other and the two of them shrugged.

"I'm in." Ash replied.

"I'll join too." Latias stated.

"And I'll join as well!" someone exclaimed as the door to room flew open.

Ash and Latias jumped at the sudden intrusion. Professor Sycamore simply frowned.

"You really should make appointments instead of barging in unannounced. It's a bad habit of yours, Serena."

Ash looked at the girl with a surprised expression.

"Serena?! No way!" Ash exclaimed.

"Ash, do you know her?" Latias asked.

"Ash!? Are you serious! I haven't seen you since-"

"the camp! I know! We never saw each other after that! I never knew you lived in Kalos!"

The two embraced each other in a tight hug. Latias' face went red as her jealousy rose. They separated and each took a seat. Serena sat on the other couch beside Preofessor Sycamore, much to Latias' appreciation.

"It's been so long! What have you been doing this entire time?" Ash asked as he sat down.

"Well, I spent most of my time learning how to ride Rhyhorn from my mom. She's a famous Rhyhorn racer you see? After a while, I decided I wanted to be a Trainer instead. That was-"

"5 years ago, if I recall correctly." Professor Sycamore finished for her. "You and Calem were special cases. Most trainers start their journeys at the age of 10, but you two were 12 when you started. You chose Fennekin and Calem chose Froakie."

Serena nodded as if to reinforce what he had said.

"What about you? What have you been doing?" she asked.

"I was a trainer just like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee."

Serena and Professor Sycamore stared at Ash with dead expressions.

"What? It means I got married."

"Pfft, I knew that." Serena said sitting back.

Her eyes started to grow wide and she swiftly turned her head to him.

"You got married!?"

**A/N - I'm not sure what to think of this chapter. I typed it out twice, each in a different setting, but I can't really say I like either of them. If you guys want, I'll upload the other version under the title of Chapter 5 Alternate. Guardian Samuel, out!**


	6. Chapter 6

Serena sat back with a surprised expression while Professor Sycamore's eyes gleamed with interest as Ash and Latias finished recounting there tale of how they met. Ash felt he could trust the two individuals with the knowledge of Ruby's true identity.

"So your wife here is actually the legendary Pokémon Latias! Incredible, I've only heard legends of your kind. How long can you hold that form? Does it consume a lot of energy? Can you transform into anything else?"

The professor's questions soon began to speed up until Ash and Latias couldn't understand anything. Serena punched him in the back of the head causing him to yelp in pain as the sudden jolt made him bite his tongue.

"You're being rude professor." She stated.

"It's okay, I understand his surprise." Latias said.

"Shank you!" Professor Sycamore said holding a hand to the side of his cheek. "Thish ishn't an every day occurencshe you know!"

Ash chuckled lightly at the small exchange.

"We'll answer any questions you might have professor, but this time could you maybe take things a little slower?" Ash asked.

"Of course!" he replied. "Now, for my first question, how limited is your power to transform?"

"I can only transform into a human."

"Do you have any other unique abilities?"

Latias smiled mischievously and Ash groaned.

"Here we go again." He muttered before taking a sip of his tea.

A bright, blue flash of light radiated from Latias and no sooner had she transformed into her true form, she disappeared. Serena yelped in surprise and whipped her head back and forth searching for the dragon.

"Where'd she go? Did she teleport? What's wrong?" Serena asked noticing Ash's gaze.

A little smile crept onto the champion's face. Serena felt something like a gust of wind brush against her head. She touched her head with a confused expression. Her confusion only increased when she saw her hat rest itself on top of Professor Sycamore's head who seemed intrigued.

"Invisibility! Amazing!" the professor exclaimed taking the hat off.

Ash nodded before being tackled by an invisible force. He began laughing as Latias, having lifted her invisibility, rubbed her cheek against his. Latias chirped delightfully as Ash scratched her neck.

"Hmm, so she loses the ability to speak when she's in her true form?"

The professor's question got Ash's attention and he sat up. Latias laid beside him with her head on his lap.

"Yes and no. She can't talk like a regular person, but she's pretty much mastered telepathy. She can even speak to several people at once if she wants to, but it requires more concentration and energy than just one person." Ash replied as he softly stroked Latias' neck.

The professor nodded.

"And what of you?"

Ash blinked a few times.

"What do you mean?"

"I noticed you were following her while she was invisible. Is there a trick to seeing her?"

"Oh, I couldn't see her."

"Then how did you know where she was."

"Aura."

This caught Serena's attention.

"Aura? Like, the stuff a Lucario uses?" she asked.

Ash nodded and held out his hand. His eyes focused on his hand. Serena could barely feel it, but she felt the air in the room change ever so slightly. It didn't take long before she was staring at an aura sphere in her friend's hand. Both her and the professor were enraptured by the sphere. The sound emanating from it was powerful and the colors matched it. It appeared mostly dark blue mixed with a brighter blue. Serena looked up to Ash to express her wonderment, but it all immediately faded as soon as she saw him. He was sweating profusely and looked to be in pain. As soon as she noticed, the sphere disappeared in a brilliant flash blinding her for a moment. When she regained her vision, Ash was slumped over Latias and shaking uncontrollably. Latias slowly laid him on the couch and hovered over him. She touched his forehead with her claw and instantly, a pink wave travelled across his body. His breathing steadied and his shaking started to slow down. Latias looked over to the professor for a few seconds.

"Of course!" he stated, jumping up from the couch and rushing over to a closet.

He came back with a blanket and draped it over Ash. Serena was slightly confused at the professor's actions, but then realized Latias must have spoken to him with telepathy.

"Is he okay?" she asked, worried that Ash might have injured himself.

**"_He'll be fine. He just needs some rest is all."_** Said a voice in her head.

"Was that you, Latias?"

The dragon nodded her head.

**"_I don't have any first-hand experience with it, but from what Ash has told me, Aura is very hard on the body. It doesn't seem to affect him when all he's doing is sensing someone's Aura, but when he exerts his own Aura, it's almost like there's too much for his body to handle."_**

"You could say it's similar to a broken faucet." the professor stated handing a wet towel to Latias.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

"His aura, it's like a broken faucet. It's either always on or always off. There's no in-between. However, the fact he can control aura is astonishing. How long has he known he could control it?"

Latias shook her head.

**"_You would have to ask him. I've heard the story, but I can't give you an exact time frame. I do know that his natural ability to sense aura started a little more than a year ago."_**

"Well, you can rest here for as long as you like." The professor said. "I can have a guest room ready for you immediately."

Latias smiled at the gesture.

"_It's alright, we've already planned on staying at the hotel here."_

The professor nodded in understanding.

"I won't argue for you to stay here, but I must ask, what is your next move?"

Latias cocked her head, confused by the question.

"Ash said that he was directed here by Gary Oak to get started on his research for Mega Evolution. Do you two have a plan on where you're going next?"

The dragon closed her eyes in thought. Her eyes shot open when she felt something touch her arm. She looked down and noticed Ash trying to get her attention. She lowered her head down to where Ash could whisper something before falling back to sleep.

**"_Ash said he was hoping you could lead us in the right direction."_**

Professor Sycamore smiled.

"I assumed that was going to be the response. In that case, I'll have Serena here travel with you and take you to Shalour City where the Mega Evolution Guru lives. I'm sure you'll learn more from him than you will in this lab."

Serena jumped in surprise at this.

"Wait, why am I suddenly being roped into this?" she asked.

The professor shrugged his shoulders.

"You were on your way back to the Guru anyways, weren't you? You might as well go with them."

Serena fell silent knowing he was right. She had business with the Guru and it wouldn't hurt to have some companions along the way. She even felt a little happier knowing she was going to be traveling with Ash and Latias, even if it was only for a short while. She finally nodded her head and agreed.

"I'll be staying here." She stated. "I'll meet you two in the lobby of your hotel tomorrow morning and we can go over the details then. For now, I need to go out and get some supplies."

As soon as Serena left, Professor Sycamore stood up with a sigh.

"The scan should be about complete. I'll go get the stone and then we can try and figure out how we're going to get him to the hotel."

**A/N: Wow, I didn't even realize it had been 8 days since Chapter 5 was uploaded. I feel kind of bad not uploading this one a bit sooner. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoy reading your reviews. (Seriously though, I love knowing that you guys actually enjoy reading this. Your support means a lot.)**


	7. Chapter 7

Ash gasped as his eyes shot open. His eyes shot side-to-side, but nothing could be made out. He took a few seconds to collect himself and realized he was in a hotel room. While he let his eyes adjust, Ash took a moment to recall what had happened. He remembered having a conversation with Serena and Professor Sycamore, but his memory went fuzzy after they started talking about Aura. He groaned as he shifted himself up into a sitting position. His muscles ached for some reason.

"_I'm parched. I need some water." _

The young champion carefully slid out of the bed making sure not to wake his sleeping companion. His legs buckled under him making him stumble forward. He planted his hands on the wall and slowly made his way into the bathroom. He flipped the switch on his way in, illuminating the bathroom.

"_What in Arceus's name did I do to make myself weak like this?"_

Ash let out a quiet sigh and turned on the faucet. He grabbed a little paper cup, filled it up, and downed the water. Following this, he cupped some water in his hands and washed his face off. He dried his face off and looked up into the mirror. What he saw made him scream in surprise and fall backwards. Latias peered into the bathroom a few seconds afterwards and looked at him questioningly. Ash waved his hand in front of him.

"It's nothing, I just tripped."

Her brows furrowed and she gave him a worried coo.

"I'm fine, really. I'm sorry for waking you up." He replied with a smile. "I'll be back in bed soon."

Latias flew in and helped him up before nuzzling him and floating back to bed.

"_Did she just not notice? Or maybe…"_

Ash looked back into the mirror.

"_They're not there anymore."_

Ash stood there staring at the mirror like it was about to open up a portal to another world. He snapped out of his trance when he heard Latias coo from the other room. He made his way out of the bathroom, stealing one last glance at the mirror as if challenging it. He slid into bed and fell asleep, all the while thinking about those piercing red eyes he had seen in his reflection.

"Over here!" Serena yelled from across the lobby.

Ash looked at Serena and then to Latias. He pointed his thumb at her without saying a word.

"After you passed out yesterday, I took things into my own hands." Latias said. "Serena is going to be our guide to Shalour City."

Ash processed this new tidbit of information and nodded.

"Alright, I can deal with this. It'll be like the old days. Except this time I'm traveling with two females… I really wish Brock was here." He sighed with thoughts of food.

The two made their way over to Serena and what appeared to be a large, bipedal fox. Ash whipped out Dexter and pointed it at the creature.

"Delphox, the Fox Pokémon: It gazes into the flame at the tip of its branch to achieve a focused state, which allows it to see into the future."

Delphox stared at the Pokédex curiously.

"First time I've ever seen a Delphox. Where'd you get her?" Ash asked.

"She's a starter here in Kalos. The final evolved form of Fennekin and how did you know her gender?"

Ash shrugged.

"I've been around Pokémon for a long time. I guess I can just tell now."

Ash pulled out a chair for Latias and sat down himself. He called a waiter over and placed a couple of orders. After the menus were taken away he turned to Serena.

"So, you're going to take us to Shalour City. Do you have a route in mind?"

Serena nodded and pulled out her map.

"The fastest way is to go up through Route 13 into Coumarine City. After that, we surf across the Azure Bay into Route 12 and finally we make our way into Shalour City. It'll be about a 5-day trip so make sure you're ready. Oh, and make sure you bring a lot of water. Route 13 is pretty much a desert and you don't want to dehydrate."

"How long will we be in the desert?" Latias asked.

"A few days. Route 13 makes up a pretty large part of the journey." Serena replied. "It gets kind of cold at night too, so make sure you have something to keep you warm."

"I have something that can keep me warm." Latias said leaning against Ash.

The young trainer blushed and coughed as if to cover up his embarrassment.

"I think we're good warm clothing. We just need to pick up some water on our way out of Lumiose."

"When do you want to leave?" Serena asked tucking the map back into her purse.

"As soon as possible." Ash replied with no hesitation.

Serena stared at him in surprise.

"Are you sure? There's a lot to do here in Lumiose. Why not take your time and have a tour of the city? In fact, you've only been in Kalos for what, 24 hours?"

Ash shook his head.

"I'm sure there is, but I'd like to get started with the research as soon as possible. The fact that Professor Sycamore knows nothing about the stone I brought doesn't sit well with me. I'm hoping this Guru can identify it."

"What about you?" Serena asked, turning towards Latias.

Ash's companion frowned.

"I'd like to have a look around, but we can always come back another day. It's not like Lumiose is about to fly off." She replied.

Ash snorted.

"That's quite the image. A flying city. Next thing you know, it's going to teleport."

Latias giggled at the mental image.

Serena sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"If that's the consensus, I suppose we can leave when we're done with breakfast."

The waiter was walking over with their food when a ringing noise started coming from Serena's purse. She dug around and pulled out a device Ash had never seen before. She excused herself from the table and went outside. Ash and Latias dug in without waiting for Serena to come back. After a few minutes, she returned and sat down, but she appeared to be shaking.

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked setting his silverware down.

"It's my Absol. About 4 months ago while I was traveling in the northern region of Kalos, Absol saved me from a stampeding herd of Mamoswine. I got out with a few scratches, but Absol… Absol's leg was broken."

"That's horrible." Latias whispered.

Serena nodded and tears began welling up.

"He's supposed to make a full recovery, but the Nurse Joy who's taking care of him just told me he'll never be able to fight again."

Ash closed his eyes and Latias gasped. Tears were now streaming down her face. Delphox put an arm on her trainer's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Serena leaned into the Pokémon and began openly sobbing. Ash stood up quietly followed by Latias, but Ash put his arm on her shoulder and sat her back down.

"I'm going to go get out supplies. Stay here with her. I won't be gone for too long." He whispered.

Ash gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before making his way out into the city.

**A/N: So the story is kind of side-tracking off of the original script, but it should all culminate in the same ending. Now, that ORAS is out, I should be able to get some more accurate information to make some aspects of the story clearer. (I just need to finish the game first!)**


	8. Chapter 8

Ash slowly walked along the streets of Lumiose. It was still early in the morning so many people were still waking up to prepare for work. The sounds of the city resounded everywhere. Angry cab drivers could be heard blaring their horns in the distance and wild Pokémon could be seen darting in and out of alleyways looking for food. He stopped in front of a billboard with a detailed layout of the city. After figuring out where the Pokémart was, he made a beeline for it. He didn't want to leave Latias and Serena alone for too long. It wasn't long before Ash found himself browsing in one of the shop's many aisles. He grabbed the basic provisions first and then picked up some medicine and bandages in case something might occur while they were traveling. Happy with what he had, Ash turned to check out and bumped into a man who dropped some items.

"Sorry! I wasn't paying attention." He immediately stated as he crouched to help the man.

"It's quite alright." The man replied placing the items into a basket.

The two of them stood up and Ash got a good look at the man. He was taller than Ash by quite a few inches. He had combed back red hair and his most remarkable feature was the eye patch covering his left eye. There was also a scar running across the bridge of his nose that Ash found interesting.

"I am Andre." He said offering Ash a hand.

"Ash Ketchum."

"I couldn't help but notice the Pokeball on your belt. Am I correct in assuming you are a trainer?"

Ash nodded.

"I've been a trainer for 7 years. I had gone into retirement, but fate dictated that my time as a trainer has yet to end."

Ash glanced at the clock and yelped in surprised.

"I'm sorry about running into you before, but I really need to go!" he exclaimed before dashing up to the register and running out of the store.

The man's happy demeanor was soon replaced with one of anger as Ash left.

"Damn it. It would appear the reconnaissance team was telling the truth." He said as he threw the basket down.

He stepped just outside the Pokemart and could just make out Ash running through the crowd in the distance. Another man appeared beside him out of nowhere.

"What are your orders, Lysandre?"

Lysandre punched the man in the gut.

"Never use my real name in public. Don't do anything to him for now. Just keep tabs on him. I doubt any of you could beat him anyways."

"Yes, sir." The man grunted before disappearing into the shadows.

"My plans were ruined before, but I will not fail this time."

* * *

><p>Ash walked into the hotel half expecting an angry Latias. Instead, she came over and helped him with the provisions without a word. She had a solemn expression and stole glances once in a while towards Serena who had her head in hands and was making no noise.<p>

**"_I think we should push our departure back. We should give her time to calm down." _**Latias said telepathically.

**"_You're probably right. She shouldn't have to travel like this."_** Ash replied.

"Are you two ready to go?" Serena asked standing up.

Ash and Latias stared at her with surprised expressions.

"Actually, we were thinking about pushing the departure back." Latias replied as Ash nodded to confirm this.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine. It's not like Absol died. He can still live a happy life at my house." She replied with a small smile.

Ash and Latias made a small agreement through eye contact alone and nodded.

"We're ready." Latias said with determination.

"Let's go." Ash added as he shouldered his backpack.

Serena stood up and wiped away a tear. When she opened her eyes they were that of fierce determination.

"I can't let this get me down." She said. "I have to keep going forward until my own legs give out."

"Your journey won't end there." Ash replied walking towards the front doors.

"Huh?"

"When you can't run you crawl and when you can't do that anymore, you find someone to carry you."

Serena stopped following him for a few seconds dumbfounded. A large smile broke out on her face and she leapt forward and took Ash and Latias into a hug.

"Then, when that time comes, do you think you could help me out?"

Ash chuckled and nodded.

"Of course I can. I have a bad habit of never saying no to a friend anyways."

"I can attest to that." Latias said.

The entire group burst into laughter as they started their journey for Shalour City.

* * *

><p>Ash panted as the sun beat down on him with blistering heat. He would look around as if he was trying to find someone or something to blame the heat on. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead, he directed his attention to the west. He could barely see the Lumiose Tower far in the distance. It had been 3 days since he left with Latias and Serena. The sound of shuffling feet and heavy panting brought his mind back down to earth. He turned around and saw Latias supporting Serena. Ash motioned to a rock formation and helped Serena underneath its shade. Ash collapsed right beside her and pulled out a water bottle. After taking a swig, he offered it to Serena who accepted it gladly.<p>

"How could you possibly be ok with this?" Ash asked noticing that Latias didn't even appear winded.

Latias giggled and sat down beside him. She put her hand on his shoulder and he immediately felt cool air rushing across his body. As soon as she took it off it was back to the dry heat. He looked at her in disbelief.

"You're air conditioning yourself?! That's just not right!" he exclaimed.

Something bumped into his shoulder. He turned around and took back his water bottle from Serena who pulled out a Town Map. She slid it open and tapped the screen. After a few seconds a red dot began blipping on the map.

"That red dot is where we're at right now." She said pointing at it. "If we keep going at this pace we should reach Coumarine tomorrow afternoon."

"Fancy map." Ash commented looking towards the sky. "A quarter to 7 I'd say."

"Well then, let's keep going." Serena stated closing the map.

"Wait." He replied holding his hand out. "Latias, do you sense that?"

"I can hear it." She replied.

"What are you two talking about?" Serena asked thoroughly confused now.

"There's a sandstorm heading this way. Unless we want half of our supplies ruined by sand, I suggest we find shelter." He said scanning the horizon. He quickly found what he was looking for.

"Over there. There's a cave. We'll ride the storm out in there and continue tomorrow."

* * *

><p>As soon as the group made it into the cave, darkness came over everything and the wind began to howl. Serena watched the entrance to the cave, entranced by the raging storm. After a couple of hours passed, Serena went to bed leaving Ash and Latias alone. Ash sat on a small rock staring outside like he could actually see what was going on. Latias flew over and nuzzled him.<p>

**"_Is something wrong? You look kind of… depressed."_**

Ash shook his head.

"Not really, I'm just thinking."

**"_About what?"_**

"Everything, really. My past journeys, old friends, new friends, mom, you, and the future. I'm just wondering what's in store for us."

Latias floated beside him not knowing how to respond. Ash stretched his arms and stood up.

"But, I suppose it won't do me any good by just dwelling on them. For now, I'll enjoy whatever time I have with you and we can deal with those problems when they come along."

He leaned forward and gave Latias a kiss before heading over to his sleeping bag. Latias blushed at the sudden action and followed him, worming her way into the sleeping bag.

"You know this is only built for one person?" Ash asked.

**"_Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not a person." _**Latias replied before giving Ash a surprise kiss of her own. **"_Good night, love."_**

**A/N: Hey all! So Nintendo threw a curve ball that knocked me out. I had intended on that stone being a key plot point for a future story. However, now that I've played through Alpha Sapphire I kind of realized just how hard it would be to sensibly give Ash one of the stones required for Primal Evolution. It just wouldn't make sense. This doesn't change anything, but the stone will probably take a less important role in the story. (Then again, it was never really going to be that important for this story in the first place.) - Guardian Samuel, out. **


	9. Chapter 9

Ash woke to the noise of a roaring wind. He slowly sat up and stretched his arms with a loud yawn. The young champion noticed something sitting near the front of the cave and rubbed his eyes.

"Serena? Wait, is it still dark out?" he asked shifting himself out of the sleeping bag.

"Hm? Oh, yeah." She quietly replied as Ash sat down beside her.

The two trainers sat in silence watching the storm outside. Every minute felt like an hour to Ash as he calmly watched on. Ash heard a noise from Serena and looked over at her. She looked like she was having trouble speaking.

"Something wrong?"

Serena jumped a little, but quickly shook her head.

"It's just, I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead, I'm an open book."

Serena squirmed a bit on the rock.

"Have you ever lost a Pokémon?" she asked staring at the ground.

"_She's hung up on Absol." _

Ash stretched his arms again and stood up. He walked over to the cave entrance and stood there for a couple of minutes before turning back around. Serena watched him carefully the entire time.

"I can't say I've ever actually _lost _a Pokémon," he replied. "But there have been times throughout my journey where it certainly felt like it."

Serena said nothing so Ash continued.

"One of the times I recall was back in Kanto. I had released Butterfree, the first Pokémon I had ever caught myself. I was happy for him, but it also felt like I lost a part of myself when he left. I've had other instances like that, but some of them were much easier to deal with. Kind of like Pidgeot."

Ash smiled as he recalled his time with Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot helped to protect a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto from the Spearow and Fearow. I left him to lead the flock and protect it. He comes around to visit sometimes when he has time."

Ash's smile faltered as another memory cropped up.

"And then there's Lucario."

Serena tilted her head slightly.

"Lucario?"

"Lucario, wasn't my Pokémon. In fact, he shouldn't have even been alive when I met him. He was stuck in a crystal for hundreds of years, forced into it by Sir Aaron. He was extremely adept with aura, even when compared to other Lucario. He was the one who showed me how to call forth and use my own aura. He was also the one who led us to the Tree of Beginning after Mew took Pikachu there."

Ash's eyes seemed a little empty.

"Something went wrong. The tree thought we were a virus and it tried to eradicate us. It was doing pretty well too. After running around and figuring out what was going on, Mew brought everyone back, but this caused an even larger issue. The tree's immune system went into shock and the only way to save it was to give Mew more power. And so we did. Lucario and I transferred our power to Mew, but I still wasn't experienced enough. Lucario had to do most of the work and in the end, he died."

Ash put his hands together and rested his head on them.

"If I had done better, he might have lived. The thought of that haunts me to this very day, but I know he wouldn't want me to think like that. He would want me to be happy that he's with Sir Aaron again."

Ash said nothing after this and simply sat there. Serena reached over and put her hand on his shoulder. The young champion looked over at her.

"I'm sure Lucario would be proud of how far you've come since then."

Ash smiled and nodded.

"You're right. He would be. I can't let these thoughts tear me apart. I've gained a lot in my life since then, some of them are irreplaceable." He replied turning towards Latias.

Serena smiled at him and stood up.

"Thanks for answering my question." She said dusting herself off. "I was beating myself up over Absol and just felt like the world was ending. After listening to your story though, I think I can muster the courage to move on and make the best of the situation."

"Ah, actually, I have something I'd like to ask you myself."

Serena blinked a couple of times before nodding and sitting back down.

"What do you want to know?"

"I was hoping you could tell me about a man named Lysandre."

Serena reeled back in shock.

"Is that a no?"

Serena shook her head and fixed herself.

"No, I can tell you about him. I was just a little shocked. How do you even know about him? I thought that incident was only known here in Kalos?"

"I don't know the details, but I do know that this man tried to do something here a couple of years ago. I guess you could say I'm interested in knowing what he tried to do."

Serena coughed to clear her throat.

"Well, Lysandre was the head of a big company. They produced items beneficial to trainers like the Holo Caster." She explained as she stooped over and pulled a device from her bag. "The Holo Caster lets you talk to other people with Holo Casters with a holographic image or you can call normal phones with just audio. Apparently all the Holo Casters were bugged and he used the information from calls to aid in his plan."

"What was his plan?"

"Lysandre, was sick of the world. He was sick of the people. So by using the power of the Legendary Pokémon Xerneas, he planned on annihilating everything so the world could start over. He planned on doing this by feeding Xerneas' power into something called the Ultimate Weapon. A device created 3,000 years ago by King AZ solely for the purpose of bringing his beloved friend back to life. However, his anger was too much and he turned the device into a weapon and destroyed the two sides of the war. His friend, disgusted by the fact the device was powered by other Pokémon left him. A side effect of the device gave AZ eternal life, which to him was more like a punishment. Calem and I found out about his plan and set out to stop him. Alongside our friends, we were able to free Xerneas who fought alongside us to defeat Lysandre. We were successful, just barely. The weapon fell in on itself and was destroyed. Lysandre's body was never recovered. It's thought that he was crushed by the weapon and nobody's simply found his body yet."

Ash carefully listened to everything Serena said. He thought about challenging the belief he was dead, but decided against it. He didn't want to cause any unneeded worry. After a few minutes of silence, Ash simply stood up and walked back to his sleeping bag after thanking her.

"Ash, thank you, for talking with me. It helped a lot."

Ash smiled and nodded once more.

"No problem. Now let's get some sleep, otherwise my darling wife here will be a mile ahead of us tomorrow."

Serena giggled before turning over in her sleeping bag.

"Good night." She whispered.

"You too." Ash replied before falling into a world of dreams.

**A/N: Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, I guess I'm not a creature then because I'm stirring. Hey guys, Guardian Samuel with a brand spankin' new filler! *Silence* I'll show myself out... Until next time, Gaurdian Samuel, out!**


	10. Chapter 10

Ash fell onto a bench, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Serena collapsed on the other end with her head hanging back. Latias sat down beside Ash while giggling.

"I will never complain about air conditioning being too cold ever again." Ash stated.

"Ditto." Serena replied.

Ash raised his head and looked around. They were in a route connector which was surprisingly similar to the ones Ash had been through in other regions. Other than his group there were only a few other people. He peered out the doors at the opposite end of the room and saw a few buildings in the distance.

"So that over there is Coumarine?"

Serena nodded without even looking.

"We can get some supplies while we're there. Normally we could take a short water route to get over to Shalour, but the route is off-limits due to construction. We have to go around."

Ash looked up trying to come up with a faster solution.

"We could fly there." Latias said.

Ash snapped his finger and pointed at her.

"Exactly! They may be able to stop anybody travelling on land, but they can't stop us from flying over!"

"That's true, but how will we do that? I don't have any Pokemon on me that can fly." Serena replied.

Ash stood up and unclipped the Pokeball from his belt.

"This is how we'll do it." He stated tossing the ball a short distance.

A flash of white light came from the ball blinding Serena for a few seconds and attracting the attention of a few people. Soon after, a loud roar reverberated around the room. Serena opened her eyes and was astonished at what she saw. A fully grown Charizard stood before her. Ash walked up to it and gave it a fist bump.

"How you holding up in there?" Ash asked. "Sorry I never let you out 'till now."

The large lizard replied with a low growl and puff of smoke. Ash laughed at this and continued conversing with the large lizard. Serena leaned over to Latias.

"Does he understand what it's saying?"

Latias shook her head lightly.

"He's just guessing. That's just how well he know his friends." She replied with a soft smile. "Charizard has been with Ash for a long time. Much longer than I've known him. They share a different kind of bond than I do with Ash. One of trust and comradery."

Serena nodded and turned to watch Ash and Charizard. A thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Wait, how is Charizard going to carry 3 people? That's a little much don't you think?"

Latias giggled.

"He's not carrying 3 people. He's carrying 2."

"What do you mean?"

"You forget that I'm a Pokemon as well. I'll fly beside you and Ash as you ride Charizard." She explained.

"Eh?! But, are you sure?"

Latias blinked a few times and cocked her head.

"Is something wrong?"

Serena fumbled with her words and began wringing her fingers together.

"I mean, it's just, are you fine with that? Me riding with him? He is your husband after all." She said with a slight blush.

Latias stared at her for a few minutes and began to laugh.

"W-What's so funny?"

"You're much more innocent than I thought you were." Latias replied wiping a tear from her eye. "You're absolutely right though, he is my husband."

"Exactly, so you sho-"

"But you forgot something important." Latias said cutting her off. "I'm also his wife."

Serena pulled back a little.

"I don't understand." She replied frowning.

"I didn't expect you too," Latias said smiling. "But you will eventually."

Both of the girls jumped up in surprise as a torrent of flames flew by them. They quickly looked over to Charizard and saw a charred Ash standing like he was some sort of hieroglyphic. Latias started laughing as Serena started to panic. Latias walked over to Ash and pinched out a flame on his sleeve and began dusting him off.

"How can you be so calm!? He could have died! Don't you see he's perfectly fine! Wait, what?"

Serena looked at him a little more carefully.

"You're not even burned?"

Ash chuckled and shook his head.

"Nah, this is a common occurrence with Charizard. His flamethrower is kind of similar to a Ponyta or Rapidash's mane. It doesn't hurt anyone the Pokémon trusts."

"I didn't even know that was possible…"

"You learn something new every day, huh?" Ash replied as he returned Charizard to his Pokeball. "So, what are we waiting around for? Let's get going to Coumarine!"

Ash spun on his heel and began marching for the door at the opposite end of the room followed closely by Latias. Serena watched them for a few seconds before giving an exasperated sigh and smiling.

"You guys are really something." She said to herself.

"What was that?" Latias asked looking back.

Serena shook her head and ran ahead of them.

"Come on you Slowpokes! We wanna get there before the day is out don't we?" she yelled back.

Ash and Latias both ran after her as the sun bathed the world in a soft orange glow. A man stepped out from the route connector and threw away a newspaper. He carefully watched the three running in the distance. He pulled a battered radio from one of his pockets and turned fine-tuned it.

"HQ, this is unit 2-1, copy."

"_2-1, this is HQ, what do you have for us."_

"I have confirmation on Pokémon in the Champion's current party."

"_Send it."_

"It appears he only has a Charizard with him. Initial scans show high power levels. What are my next orders?"

Static came from the radio for a few seconds before a low, disgruntled voice came over.

"_You've done well, 2-1. Avoid direct confrontation with target and return to base."_

"Yes sir!"

The man turned off the radio and slid it back into his pocket before disappearing into the shadows.

**A/N: Hey guys, a little late with a chapter not as long as most of the others, but whatever. I like ending a chapter at spots I like. Xmas is tomorrow and this is my gift to you all! Happy holidays!**

**P.S. On a side note, for anyone who read my Destiny fic, I'd like you to know I'm thinking about writing another chapter, but that will be its last. I do NOT intend on continuing Deeper into the Darkness.**


	11. Chapter 11

-Coumarine City-

Ash stared out across the sea. The dark blue was illuminated by the stars above creating a beautiful scene for him to enjoy. Latias was lying in the grass with her head in his lab and Serena was off to the side training with Delphox. A cold sea breeze blew in carrying with it the unique fragrance of the ocean. The young champion closed his eyes and let the smell take him back to his days as a child in Pallet town where he would spend hours at the town's beach. It also reminded him of his time spent in Alto Mare with Latios and Latias as well as Bianca and Lorenzo. He smiled at the memories and opened his eyes to find Serena walking over and dropping down beside him.

"What's up?" he asked leaning back a little.

Serena shrugged her shoulders and brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

"Just thought I'd take a break. It'd be a shame to pass up this kind of view." She replied.

"What kind of move are you trying to teach her?" Ash asked curiously.

"Mystical Fire."

"Never heard of it."

Serena nodded.

"That's not surprising. Mystical fire is kind of a signature move that can only be learned by Delphox."

"Only Delphox?"

Serena looked up in thought.

"Well, I have heard rumors of a certain Ghost-type Pokémon being able to learn it, but I've never been able to confirm that."

Ash looked over at Delphox. Purple flames were coming out of the branch it uses as a wand, but it appeared to be having trouble controlling it. After a few seconds the flame disappeared. Delphox was breathing a little heavily which didn't go unnoticed by Serena.

"Delphox, take a break. We'll pick back up on it tomorrow." She said returning the large fox to her Pokeball.

Serena sighed as she tucked the Pokeball back into place.

"Sounds like you've been trying for a while to learn it." Ash stated.

"A few weeks now. It was a mistake not teaching it to her earlier. It would have been easier for her to pick up on.

She stretched her arms and fell back onto the grass.

"Was there ever a time when you didn't know what to do anymore?"

"Not really. I had my goal set in stone when I was still 10 years old. After I finished that, I took a break from being a trainer and just stayed home for a while. Then I went back to Alto Mare and had a fateful reunion with this beautiful woman." He replied lightly stroking Latias' hair.

"What happened after you got together with her?"

"I went back to Pallet town and decided to settle down."

"Aren't you a bit young to retire?" she asked humorously.

"Arceus thought so apparently." Ash sighed.

Serena giggled at his remark. She looked back up at the stars and closed her eyes.

"I've been through a lot here in Kalos. I can't say I hate this place, but it's a stretch to say I love it."

Ash looked at her with a slightly confused expression.

"Why not? Kalos seems like a lovely place to live. I certainly wouldn't mind staying."

Serena shook her head.

"I love Kalos, it's just some of the experiences I've had here have been a little bitter sweet. Do you remember what we talked about a couple nights ago? About everyone who helped stop Lysandre?"

Ash nodded.

"Of course, you said your friend Calem led the charge against him, right?"

This time Serena nodded.

"I fell in love with him shortly afterwards, but he left Kalos." She stated rather bluntly.

Ash took a few seconds to construct a response.

"Where'd he go?"

"The Orre region. He said he wanted to study what kind of effects a bond has with Pokemon. He heard about a phenomena dubbed "Shadow Pokemon" occurred over there some time ago and set off without even as much as a warning."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, letting the sea breeze wash over them.

"How about now?" Ash asked staring into the sea.

Serena shrugged.

"I'm not sure what to think now. I don't think he plans on coming back anytime soon and other feelings are messing everything up. I think I need to get away from Kalos. If I stay here any longer, I'll never be able to leave."

"You could try for the Indigo Plateau."

Serena laughed rather loudly.

"That's not a bad idea. It all depends on whether or not I'd be fighting you or Lance."

"I don't think the League would mind if I took Lance's spot for one fight."

Serena sat up and stuck her hand out.

"It's a deal then. After everything is done over here, I'll go to the Kanto region and take on the Gym League challenge. Once I reach the Indigo Plateau, I expect to see you waiting for me."

Ash accepted the hand with a firm grip.

"I won't go easy on you."

"It wouldn't be a real fight if you did."

The two trainers began laughing just as another breeze blew in. This time the chill got to them making each of them shiver a little.

"I guess it's about time we head back to the hotel huh?" Ash asked.

"Probably a good idea. Don't want any of us to capture a cold." Serena replied standing up and brushing her skirt off.

Ash slowly and carefully picked Latias up and carried her back to the hotel. It wasn't long before they were all in their respective rooms. Ash tucked in Latias, who for whatever reason transformed back into her Eon form. Ash smiled at her sleeping form at gave her light kiss on the forehead before tucking himself into bed.

**A/N: Hey all, well, I had a nice Christmas. Got myself some fancy new toys! Hope you all had a nice holiday as well! Due to unforeseen circumstances (PSN has been down all day) I decided to go ahead and write another chapter. I feel good about this one. The last couple of chapters, this one included don't progress the story much, but they do give you a look at the relationship between our 3 heroes. That's all for now! If you liked the Chapter and want to see more, be sure to follow! Reviews are also a big help guys! I love reading them and interacting with you all! Guardian Samuel, out!**


	12. Chapter 12

Ash shouldered his backpack and checked the straps. He tugged on each one to make sure they were secure. Latias, still asleep, squirmed around on the bed beside Ash. The young champion knelt down and lightly blew into her ear. The Eon responded by burying her head into a pillow. Ash laughed and shook her a bit, successfully waking her up.

"Come on, I let you sleep in for long enough. I'm going to need you to be in top condition today."

Latias stared at him for a few seconds groggily before letting herself fall back over onto the bed. Ash chuckled before picking her back up.

"Come on now, we can't keep Serena waiting. Do some stretches or something to wake yourself up." He said patting her head.

After a few minutes, Latias transformed into her human form. She did a few stretches to limber herself up.

"My human body is always so stiff when I transform." She complained.

"I wouldn't mind if you stayed in your Eon form. I think that's when you're the most beautiful." Ash replied causing Latias to blush.

"Do you know if Serena is ready to leave yet?"

"Yeah, she's down in the lounge right now with Delphox. I would let Charizard out, but his tendency to Flamethrower me might cause a little bit of trouble for the staff."

Latias perked an eyebrow.

"A little?"

"OK! A lot."

Latias giggled as they left for the lounge. It wasn't long before they met up with Serena and left the hotel. They walked along the harbor, which to Ash's surprise wasn't very busy. He asked Serena about it.

"Well, Kalos is a self-sufficient region. We obviously don't receive much from other regions and since most of the towns are landlocked, there's no reason to use ships all that much. You'll mostly find fishing boats since that's about the only thing Coumarine's harbor can bring in to benefit Kalos."

"What about tourists?" Latias interjected.

"I hear a ship comes around every couple of months, but there's never many people. Most just come in on planes like you two. Oh, we're here!"

The three of them stopped as they found themselves on the beach.

"We'll have to fly from here." Serena said. "It usually take a few hours to surf across, but we should be able to get there in under an hour by flying."

Ash nodded and unclipped Charizard's ball. He released the fire breathing lizard from it and told him what was going on. Charizard roared in acknowledgment before turning around and kneeling to give Ash and Serena a foot stool. Latias looked around before transforming back into her Eon form.

"Stay close to Charizard." Ash said before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you again when we get there."

Latias nodded and disappeared from sight. Ash hopped onto Charizard first and helped Serena up.

"I would hold on." He stated. "Alright buddy, let's go!"

Charizard spread his wings slowly and launched himself into the air with enough force to leave a small crater in the sand below them. Serena wrapped her hands around Ash's stomach, holding on for dear life. Ash started laughing as they soared into the air.

"How do you find this fun!" Serena screamed.

Ash turned around and gave her a goofy smile.

"I don't know! I've always loved flying! It's like I'm in a completely different world when I'm in the air!"

Serena stared at him like he was crazy before shaking her head.

"_I guess there are some things I'll never understand."_

Charizard began to level out his ascent. Ash looked over his friend's shoulder. Everything below him looked like tiny. He looked ahead next and could see a tower far off in the distance.

"Is that where we're headed?"

Serena nodded.

"That's the Tower of Mastery. It's rumored that the Guru who stays there is a descendant of the first human to ever achieve Mega Evolution. In fact, his daughter who's next in line is the Gym Leader. She's the only Gym Leader that can perform Mega Evolution."

"Really? That's kind of surprising."

"I imagine the other Gym Leaders could do it, but they don't have the means to do so."

Ash turned around. This caught his interest.

"The means to do so?"

Serena nodded and held up her left arm. On it was a wristband with a stone in the center.

"This stone is called a Keystone." She explained. "As long as you have a deep bond with your Pokemon, a Keystone and a Mega Stone, you can perform Mega Evolution."

The Keystone was news to Ash.

"_Until now, I thought you only needed a deep bond and a Mega Stone. This complicates things."_

"_**Is something wrong?"**_

Ash glanced to his left where he could sense Latias' aura.

"_**Not really, just a little surprised is all. I'll let you know if something is up."**_

Ash felt a headache coming on. He rubbed his temples a bit to soothe it. He put the headache to the back of his head and not thinking much of it. Neither Ash nor Serena spoke for a majority of the trip, Ash, mostly due to the headache and Serena, out of fear she might get sick. Latias noticed Ash constantly rubbing his temples and checked in with him every few minutes.

* * *

><p>"Finally, we're here!" Serena exclaimed as they were coming up to Shalour city.<p>

Ash simply grunted and lightly patted Charizard, signaling him to start his descent.

"Ash, are you ok? You look a little- OH MY GOD, ASH!" she screamed as Ash's body went lax and slipped off of Charizard.

The young champion began hurtling towards the sea. Latias broke invisibility and shot down after him. She quickly came up on him and matched his speed.

"_**Ash! Ash! Wake up! You need to wake up!"**_

Ash's eyes fluttered open. He looked around and his eyes shot open in surprise.

"_**Grab onto me! Quickly!"**_

Ash nodded and twisted his body into a nosedive. Latias maneuvered herself underneath him where he wrapped his arms around the base of her neck. Ash noticed how close they were to the water and braced for impact. He felt Latias slow down as much as possible before they shot into the water. After what seemed like forever, Ash slowly opened his eyes and found a surprise waiting for him.

"_**Amazing. This is beautiful."**_

Ash turned his head to Latias who was looking at the coral reef as well with wide eyes. Ash noticed he was breathing still, even underwater. Looking a little more closely, he could see a thin layer of psychic energy surrounding him. They both basked in the beautiful sight of the coral reef for what felt like decades. They smiled at each other and nodded simultaneously. Latias tucked in her arms and slowly ascended. As soon as they broke surface, Charizard was right above them. Serena looked down and sighed in relief noticing they were both fine.

**A/N: As one of the internet would say, "OH BABY A TRIPLE! OH YEAH!" But seriously, 3 chapters in less than 5 days? PSN should go down more often! I didn't realize I could be this efficient when it's down. Anyways, hope you all enjoy the chapter! Guardian Samuel, out!**


	13. Chapter 13

Ash and Latias reached the beach where Ash slid off of Latias' back. Sand blew past them as Charizard slowly landed a few feet in front of them. Serena jumped off of Charizard's back before he could land and stumbled in the sand as she ran towards him. She leapt forward and took the two of them in a tight embrace.

"Never scare me like that again! Either of you! You scared me half to death!" she cried with tears streaming down her face.

When Serena relinquished them from her hug, she led them over to a shaded area where they could all catch their breath. As soon as they sat down Latias turned to Ash with a worried expression. Ash sighed. He knew what was coming.

"_**Why didn't you tell either of us something was wrong? Actually, the better question is, what happened to you?"**_

Ash scratched the back of his head and stared at the ground. He glanced up at Latias who was still in her Eon form.

"I didn't think anything _was _wrong. I thought it was just a migraine or something. Then, all of a sudden I find myself falling through the sky. I honestly don't know why it happened."

Latias frowned and put her forehead against his.

"_**You don't have a fever. When did you first notice the headache?" **_she asked as she pulled back a bit.

"Shortly after we took to the sky." He replied. "It was just a dull pain, so I ignored it."

"_**Ash-"**_

Ash put his hands up.

"I know, I know, I should have told you. It just didn't seem that important."

Latias smiled and nuzzled him.

"_**I'm just glad you're safe. If I were to lose you…"**_

Ash let out a small sigh and embraced her.

"I'm sorry." He whispered quietly.

Serena fidgeted awkwardly feeling out of place in the whole situation. It didn't help that she could only hear half of the conversation. Ash noticed her and Charizard out of the corner of his eye and slowly let go of Latias.

"I suppose we should keep going." He said as he stood up with Latias.

Serena scrambled up and nodded.

"The town is only a mile or so away. We can walk the rest of the way."

Ash returned Charizard to his pokéball and thanked him. Serena started up for the trail followed closely by Ash and Latias who quickly transformed into her human form.

* * *

><p>"So, what's Shalour like?" Ash asked as he stared at the looming tower off in the distance.<p>

"It's a nice place. Not sure I would live there, but it definitely attracts any tourists we get in Kalos."

"Because of the tower, right?"

Serena nodded once.

"The few tourists who come to Shalour already know about Mega Evolution, whether it be from tales of old or a fable they came across in a library. The most dedicated end up staying at the tower so they can learn more and someday, hope to master its power to become stronger and come closer to their Pokémon."

"Even if they did learn about it, they can't do much without a Key Stone."

"You've hit the bull's-eye yet again. The Guru who owns the facility funds many businesses who deal in excavations. In exchange for his support, the crews send him any unidentifiable stones they find. Every other once in a while the crews will find a Key Stone and the Guru in turn gives it to a trainer he believes is worthy of it."

Ash fished around his pocket and took out the small stone Gary had given him. The professor had told him it wasn't meant for a Charizard which only made him more curious as to what powers, if any, the stone contained. He juggled a few ideas in his mind and something suddenly clicked.

"Are there any known Legendary Pokémon that can mega evolve?"

Serena turned around in surprise.

"Legendaries? Well, I don't think anyone's ever been able to catch one to find out."

"What if you didn't have to catch it? In fact, what if a Pokémon could mega evolve _without _needing a human trainer? Could a Pokémon activate mega evolution by itself?"

Serena stopped walking and blinked a few times before shaking her head.

"No, I mean, I don't know. I-Nobody's ever looked into it I guess, but why? Wait, don't tell me…"

Ash took off his backpack and fished around inside of it before pulling out a photo. He showed it to Serena who whistled in surprise.

"I've never seen a Genesect before."

"That's not the important bit, look at this Pokémon right here." Ash replied pointing to a light purple Pokémon floating on his other side. Latias peeked over and gasped.

"Is that Mewtwo? Why does he look so different?"

"Mewtwo? Who's Mewtwo?"

Ash turned to address Latias first.

"This is a different Mewtwo, and it's actually a she. A very temperamental one at that. I completely forgot, but she could transform into this right here and her power grew immensely when she did."

Serena brought a hand to her mouth and stared at the picture intensely. After a few minutes, Serena sighed.

"It certainly is interesting. I'm not sure how plausible the idea really is, but maybe it's worth investigating. I'm sure the Guru would like to hear about it. Also, have you met many Legendaries? I mean, for Arceus' sake, you have one as your wife."

Ash opened his mouth, but closed it right away.

"Let's just say I get caught up in a lot of stuff." He said as he started walking away.

Serena gawked at him and turned to Latias for answers. She shrugged as if to say 'Can't help you there' and ran off to catch up with Ash. She sighed and followed suit, giving up on her small endeavor.

**A/N: Uh, not much to say. Read some fiction yesterday, started thinking about my own story, finished reading a chapter, jumped on Word and started typing this chapter. Hope ya'll enjoy it. Make sure to leave a review, even if you didn't like it. Constructive criticism is always welcome. You're not obligated to be say you liked it if you didn't. Guardian Samuel, out!**


	14. Chapter 14

Ash whistled as he took in the glory of the amazing piece of architecture before him. The design itself felt like it was ripped straight out of a fairy tale. He felt like the building itself contained some sort of mystical property.

"I was looking at it the entire trip here, but looking at it from here…" Ash remarked, trailing off at a loss for words.

Serena nodded.

"It's even better on the inside. It's essentially a treasure trove of information for Mega Evolution."

"Well, let's get to it." Ash replied. "We're burning daylight. Would you lead the way? You are more familiar to the area after all."

Serena stepped forward and led them down the sandy beach. She stopped in front of the arched entrance where she showed a security guard an ID card and said something to him as she motioned to Ash and Latias. The guard stepped to the side and let them pass.

"A security guard seems a little unusual in a place like this." Latias remarked as they were climbing a flight of steps.

Serena motioned around where several people ranging from early teens to early adults were sitting on the stairs pouring over books.

"The tower serves as a school and a library. Not just everyone has entrance, but the tower is recognized as a national landmark and is given free security. After the Lysandre event 3 years ago, security has been upped in certain places."

Ash nodded.

"Makes sense. It'd be a huge loss if you were to lose the information stored here."

The group walked through the large doors and the atmosphere immediately changed. The air smelled like aged paper and sunlight could be seen pouring in from the large, narrow windows above them. Another thing that Ash noticed was the large statue of a Lucario erected upon a spherical base. He trailed his eyes down and found a door in the base the statue stood on. Ash watched Serena walk towards it and followed. Just as Serena was about to open the door, it burst open and all Ash saw was a flash of yellow before everything went black.

"Oh my Arceus! I'm so sorry!" exclaimed a random voice.

Ash felt something push off of his body and then felt himself getting pulled up. His vision began to return as he was supported. He focused his eyes and shook his head a bit.

"Are you alright?! I'm so, so very sorry! I didn't know anyone was out here!"

Ash looked up and saw a young girl about his age jumping around on her… rollerblades? He looked down again reconfirm and sure enough she was wearing rollerblades. She had her hands up to her chest and appeared very distressed. Ash just waved his hand at her.

"It's alright, no harm no foul." Ash replied as he flinched from a jolt of pain surging from the new bump on his head. "Well, I guess there is a little pain."

Ash looked over and found himself being supported by a Lucario. He thanked it and removed his arm from the Pokémon's shoulder. It jogged over beside the girl and simply stared at him. Latias walked over and took a look at his bump as Serena turned to the young girl.

"I didn't expect to see you here Korrina. Are you off-duty right now?"

Korrina, as Serena called her, stopped jumping around and shook her head quickly.

"No, I just had a small break in between challengers so I decided to visit gramps. It's been kind of hectic these past couple of weeks with the League coming up. Trainers are pouring in and trying to get last minute badges."

Serena nodded and Ash looked over to Korrina.

"You're the Gym Leader for the town?"

Korrina nodded enthusiastically and gasped.

"Are you a challenger? I'd be glad to fight you, but I'm booked for the next few days. Actually, haven't I seen you before?"

The young girl leaned in close and inspected him. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she stifled a scream. She had returned to jumping up and down.

"Y-You're Ash Ketchum! The youngest Champion in the history of the League! I can't believe you're actually here! Can I have an autograph!? Actually, no, would you battle me?!"

Ash's head started spinning at the torrent words flooding his ears. He put his hands up and she immediately stopped talking.

"A little slower."

Korrina nodded and took a deep breath.

"I'm a big fan of yours! I started following your ventures shortly before you overcame the League and became the Champion of Kanto. I've been wondering where you were! You disappeared almost immediately after becoming Champion and then I hear rumours that you only took the title and not the position?"

Ash nodded to all of what she said as he processed it.

"Well, it's not a rumour. I didn't want the responsibilities that came with the position and just let Lance keep it. My disappearance, well, I just went home to Pallet."

Korrina's shoulder sagged a little at the news, but perked up almost immediately.

"You're still technically Champion, right?"

Ash nodded.

"Would it be alright if we had a battle? It doesn't have to be on the book or anything and I can most definitely fit in a battle for you!"

Ash scratched the back of his head and looked up.

"I don't know. I haven't battled in a long time. I'm probably a little rusty and I only have one Pokémon on me."

Latias nudged him a little.

"_**Come on, it'll be a refreshing experience. Who knows, maybe you won't get thrashed."**_

Ash lightly pushed her with a small chuckle.

"Alright, you know what, why not? I'll have a battle with you. Just tell me the time and place and I'll be there."

Korrina's smile, if at all possible, grew wider.

"We'll battle in my Gym tomorrow at 7:00 P.M. I close early on weekends so it all works out!"

Ash stuck his hand out and Korrina shook it with glee. She immediately left without another word. Lucario turned to follow but stopped and stared at him for a few more seconds. Ash knew why and didn't say anything. He simply smiled and waved. Lucario eventually turned back and ran off after Korrina swiftly.

"That's a fast Lucario. I'm willing to bet that's who she'll use in the battle tomorrow. It's good that Charizard has an advantage on it."

"Don't get too cocky." Serena stated. "Korrina may not look it, but she's one of not the strongest Gym leader here in Kalos."

Ash nodded.

"I could tell. The Aura emanating from her Lucario was insane. It's going to be an interesting battle." He replied with a smile.

"You look excited." Latias remarked.

Ash clenched his hands into fists. They were shaking. He didn't need to say anything. Latias could read his emotions and Serena was a fellow trainer. Both in their own unique way understood his blood was boiling from excitement. Serena clapped her hands together catching Ash and Latias' attention.

"OK, so shall we meet the Guru?"

**A/N: Hey guys! Would have had this up a bit earlier, but I got roped into playing a game with some buddies of mine. Uh, yeah, I feel good about this chapter. See you all again next time! Guardian Samuel, out!**


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